In honor of MONEYBALL---BEST BASEBALL MOVIES

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SteveB
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In honor of MONEYBALL---BEST BASEBALL MOVIES

#1 Post by SteveB »

Well Oscar nominations came out this morning and Moneyball managed to nab 4.
Set aside whether you like Billy Beane, hate him, think he is over rated, or think his moneyball concepts are completely overblown. Just watch the movie for what it is, a fictional nostalgic look at the 2002 Oakland A's. You know what? Its a pretty darn good movie. Would it be good enough to take home the statue? More importantly where would it stack up against the best baseball movies of all time?

Below is my list of the best baseball movies.

10) The Pride of the Yankees--"I consider myself the luckiest man...."
9) The Rookie-- "If i call them and say i got a guy twice the kids age I will get laughed at
but if i dont call and tell them i got a guy throwing 98 mph i will get fired"


8)Eight Men Out--"Say it aint so , Joe"
7)Bad News Bears--"Hey Yankees, take your apology and your trophy and shove
them straight up your ass"

6)Bang The Drum Slowly--"From now on I rag on nobody"
5)League Of Their Own--"There is no crying in baseball"
4)Field of Dreams--"If you build it they will come"
3)For the Love of The Game--"clear the mechanism"
2)Bull Durham--"small of a womans back, high hanging curve ball, high fiber, good
scotch..........and i believe in long soft wet kisses that last three days"

1)The Natural--"when I walked down the street people would've looked and they would've said there goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was"



There you go my top 10 barely missing the cut is Sandlot and Pride of St Louis both of which i enjoy a lot. Major League is funny as well and risking Jo-Bu's curse, it just doesnt stack up.

So does Moneyball crack the list? what does everyone think?

AllstonRockCity

Re: In honor of MONEYBALL---BEST BASEBALL MOVIES

#2 Post by AllstonRockCity »

No Major League?? c'mon!!

When he pisses on his contract?? We need more coaches like that in today's game.

Just got Moneyball in yesterday, I'll post again in a few days once I've had a chance to watch it. I made my wife read the book in preparation for the movie. Its funny though, cuz I read it so long ago I barely remember most of it. She'll make references to it and I won't get them right away.

and don't forget Summer Catch :lol: :lol: :lol:

southpaw

Re: In honor of MONEYBALL---BEST BASEBALL MOVIES

#3 Post by southpaw »

Pretty good list although for me, Field of Dreams is #1. The Natural 2nd.
And even though Major League isn't the "serious" baseball movie like most on your list, it deserves a place in any top 10 baseball movie list. It's iconic and so many lines are quotable to this day.

deansdaddy

Re: In honor of MONEYBALL---BEST BASEBALL MOVIES

#4 Post by deansdaddy »

SteveB wrote: Below is my list of the best baseball movies.
10) The Pride of the Yankees--"I consider myself the luckiest man...."
9) The Rookie-- "If i call them and say i got a guy twice the kids age I will get laughed at
but if i dont call and tell them i got a guy throwing 98 mph i will get fired"


8)Eight Men Out--"Say it aint so , Joe"
7)Bad News Bears--"Hey Yankees, take your apology and your trophy and shove
them straight up your ass"

6)Bang The Drum Slowly--"From now on I rag on nobody"
5)League Of Their Own--"There is no crying in baseball"
4)Field of Dreams--"If you build it they will come"
3)For the Love of The Game--"clear the mechanism"
2)Bull Durham--"small of a womans back, high hanging curve ball, high fiber, good
scotch..........and i believe in long soft wet kisses that last three days"

1)The Natural--"when I walked down the street people would've looked and they would've said there goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was"



There you go my top 10 barely missing the cut is Sandlot and Pride of St Louis both of which i enjoy a lot. Major League is funny as well and risking Jo-Bu's curse, it just doesnt stack up.

So does Moneyball crack the list? what does everyone think?
Good List Steve - I'll add a couple more of my favs worth watching:

-The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)- Richard Pryor, Billie Dee Williams and James Earl Jones. Kind of based on Sachtel Page (Williams) and Josh Gibson (Jones). Catch it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apUAK5EQiaw

-61* - This is a great baseball movie. Tom Jane and Barry Peppar are fantastic as Mantle and Maris.

-Baseball - by Ken Burns - Yes it's a documentary - but sorry - THIS is number one on my list for the rest of time.

-Four Days in October (MLB Productions) - Chronicles the Red Sox stirring comeback against the Yankees in 2004. Great archival footage - and drama that beats anything a hollywood screenwriter could come up with. http://30for30.espn.com/film/four-days-in-october.html

-The Scout - Pure confection - but I'm a big Albert Brooks fan - so I can always sit through this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oW6eo4Pe7k

-Fever Pitch - Not a great movie - but there is something to be said for a baseball movie that your wife or girlfreind will sit through.

-Sugar - This was an intriguing look at a young Dominican's road to professional baseball. A very underrated movie.

SteveB
Major League All-Star
Posts: 327
Joined: January 1st, 2009, 4:28 am

Re: In honor of MONEYBALL---BEST BASEBALL MOVIES

#5 Post by SteveB »

deansdaddy wrote:
Good List Steve - I'll add a couple more of my favs worth watching:

-The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)- Richard Pryor, Billie Dee Williams and James Earl Jones. Kind of based on Sachtel Page (Williams) and Josh Gibson (Jones). Catch it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apUAK5EQiaw

-61* - This is a great baseball movie. Tom Jane and Barry Peppar are fantastic as Mantle and Maris.

-Baseball - by Ken Burns - Yes it's a documentary - but sorry - THIS is number one on my list for the rest of time.

-Four Days in October (MLB Productions) - Chronicles the Red Sox stirring comeback against the Yankees in 2004. Great archival footage - and drama that beats anything a hollywood screenwriter could come up with. http://30for30.espn.com/film/four-days-in-october.html

-The Scout - Pure confection - but I'm a big Albert Brooks fan - so I can always sit through this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oW6eo4Pe7k

-Fever Pitch - Not a great movie - but there is something to be said for a baseball movie that your wife or girlfreind will sit through.

-Sugar - This was an intriguing look at a young Dominican's road to professional baseball. A very underrated movie.

yeah my wife was looking over my shoulder and said , "I would put in that Billy Cyrstal movie, where he hits all those home runs , its got to be better than the Bang the Drum movie i have never even heard of that one"

Her favorite is For The Love Of The Game and we have a movie night every spring where we get rid of the kids, watch that and get ready for opening day. So thats why FTLOTG is probably higher on my list than most peoples because its my date flick.

For the record Burns' Baseball is without a doubt a slamdunk materpiece. I almost put in a disclaimer and called it The Best 10 Baseball Movies not made by Ken Burns.

So did you like Moneyball?

SteveB
Major League All-Star
Posts: 327
Joined: January 1st, 2009, 4:28 am

Re: In honor of MONEYBALL---BEST BASEBALL MOVIES

#6 Post by SteveB »

AllstonRockCity wrote:No Major League?? c'mon!!

When he pisses on his contract?? We need more coaches like that in today's game.

Just got Moneyball in yesterday, I'll post again in a few days once I've had a chance to watch it. I made my wife read the book in preparation for the movie. Its funny though, cuz I read it so long ago I barely remember most of it. She'll make references to it and I won't get them right away.

and don't forget Summer Catch :lol: :lol: :lol:
Pretty good list although for me, Field of Dreams is #1. The Natural 2nd.
And even though Major League isn't the "serious" baseball movie like most on your list, it deserves a place in any top 10 baseball movie list. It's iconic and so many lines are quotable to this day.
yep i know Major League is beloved and probably 10 years ago it cracked my top 10. I still quote it like crazy with my buddies at games. Maybe i have seen it too much, maybe i was in a more serious mood when i typed up my list but i think it just barely slips out. I would actually probably put it 12th on my list after Sandlot and before Pride of St Louis. Anyways where would you rank it... which movie would you knock off the list to make room?

southpaw

Re: In honor of MONEYBALL---BEST BASEBALL MOVIES

#7 Post by southpaw »

SteveB wrote:
AllstonRockCity wrote:No Major League?? c'mon!!

When he pisses on his contract?? We need more coaches like that in today's game.

Just got Moneyball in yesterday, I'll post again in a few days once I've had a chance to watch it. I made my wife read the book in preparation for the movie. Its funny though, cuz I read it so long ago I barely remember most of it. She'll make references to it and I won't get them right away.

and don't forget Summer Catch :lol: :lol: :lol:
Pretty good list although for me, Field of Dreams is #1. The Natural 2nd.
And even though Major League isn't the "serious" baseball movie like most on your list, it deserves a place in any top 10 baseball movie list. It's iconic and so many lines are quotable to this day.
yep i know Major League is beloved and probably 10 years ago it cracked my top 10. I still quote it like crazy with my buddies at games. Maybe i have seen it too much, maybe i was in a more serious mood when i typed up my list but i think it just barely slips out. I would actually probably put it 12th on my list after Sandlot and before Pride of St Louis. Anyways where would you rank it... which movie would you knock off the list to make room?
I would personally knock Bad News Bears out. I enjoy it for what it is, but not top 10 for me.
Major League would be around #5 for me and like Ryan, I forgot about 61*. Great movie and definitely top 10. So now I would have to knock another one off. Not sure which. Hmmm....

AllstonRockCity

Re: In honor of MONEYBALL---BEST BASEBALL MOVIES

#8 Post by AllstonRockCity »

Moneyball was great. I saw it last night. Whoever played Ron Washington did a great job, he was hilarious.

Having just seen it, my perception is probably skewed, but I'd probably put it right up there with Major League as my 2 favorite baseball movies of all time.

Maybe its because I loved what Beane did in OAK back then (and it was the model my team used to break the 'curse'). Maybe its because unlike all the other 'real' baseball movies on this list, I actually know who the players are/were. Or maybe its because I have always never understood why people like "Field of Dreams" and "the Natural" so much. I personally have never cared too much for either. When I'm looking for something to watch and those 2 movies are on, I keep looking. I've never seen anything special about them.

I honestly cannot say if I think its Oscar worthy cuz I haven't seen any of the 9 other candidates. But now that all the candidate are coming out on DVD I will see the vast majority of them. So, perhaps before the Oscars I could get a better handle on how worthy I think it is.

-------

The Scout with Albert Brooks is a great movie. I'd forgotten about that one.

SteveB
Major League All-Star
Posts: 327
Joined: January 1st, 2009, 4:28 am

Re: In honor of MONEYBALL---BEST BASEBALL MOVIES

#9 Post by SteveB »

AllstonRockCity wrote:Moneyball was great. I saw it last night. Whoever played Ron Washington did a great job, he was hilarious.

Having just seen it, my perception is probably skewed, but I'd probably put it right up there with Major League as my 2 favorite baseball movies of all time.

I honestly cannot say if I think its Oscar worthy cuz I haven't seen any of the 9 other candidates. But now that all the candidate are coming out on DVD I will see the vast majority of them. So, perhaps before the Oscars I could get a better handle on how worthy I think it is.

LOL yeah thats why i posted here...wasnt ready to annoint it because fresh in your mind always holds more weight. But yeah its a real good movie...i think at least in my case surpringly so.

My wife and i are taking Sunday as a date day and gonna try catch up on 4 of the films for best pictue ..so far only seen Moneyball and Hugo. I just have to figure out how to sell Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (cause its not up for BP but Oldman is so good in movies eager to see this one) probably have to trade The Help for TTSS..sigh : ) We will have to compare notes when we get closer.

AllstonRockCity

Re: In honor of MONEYBALL---BEST BASEBALL MOVIES

#10 Post by AllstonRockCity »

SteveB wrote:
LOL yeah thats why i posted here...wasnt ready to annoint it because fresh in your mind always holds more weight. But yeah its a real good movie...i think at least in my case surpringly so.

My wife and i are taking Sunday as a date day and gonna try catch up on 4 of the films for best pictue ..so far only seen Moneyball and Hugo. I just have to figure out how to sell Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (cause its not up for BP but Oldman is so good in movies eager to see this one) probably have to trade The Help for TTSS..sigh : ) We will have to compare notes when we get closer.
Wow, that's random, 'the help' is next on my netflix queue (thanks honey) and TTSS is the movie I most want to see. Looks like we're in the same boat there.

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